Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.
With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

A Court of Mist and Fury was epic. Let me preface this with the fact that is going to be a raving review, though I do have a few comments that are slightly on the negative side, but this is definitely my favorite novel from Sarah J. Maas. The stakes were somehow even higher than the first novel, the world-building was vast, and oh boy was the romance steamy.

A Court of Thorns and Roses was loosely based off of Beauty and the Beast and Tamlin, where as A Court of Mist and Fury is influenced by the Hades and Persephone myth. The interesting thing is you see Sarah J. Maas theorizing what would happen after the beast was turned back. I was very partial to Rhys in book one and I sympathized with him so much. I love that each of these two books have very distinct and separate plots. A Court of Mist and Fury felt like a heist story most of the time.

I read A Court of Thorns and Roses in December of 2014 because I was lucky enough to receive an ARC. It was really easy for me to just dive right back into this world, except for the parts of the novel that dealt with Hybern and Jurian. I could not remember that much concerning them and I felt that any thing that dealt with them wasn't explained that thoroughly or at least it wasn't connecting well for me.

I loved the introduction of The Night Court as well as the Summer Court. Sarah J. Maas is clearly the Queen of world building. These two courts are so different from the Spring Court from the physical presences to the culture of the individual courts. I loved Rhys' inner circle. They all represent aspects of him. Their interactions with Feyre were so entertaining.

Rhys and Feyre being mates was something that you felt at the end of ACOTAR. There was something there when she was brought back. I feel like I keep saying love over and over again; I'm sorry but no other word expresses my feelings for this book. I loved their growth as friends to lovers to so much more. It was a mutual and gradual progression, all the while laced with the craziest sexual tension. Their relationship is so palpable.

This book is published by the Children's division of Bloomsbury, it isn't YA, but it is promoted as YA. It has a lot of sex. Pretty sure there was a sex scene in the first chapter. Feyre and Rhys in the Court of Nightmares was hot damn amazing. Their night at the inn was oh my god someone get me a fan. I think there does need to be some kind of differentiation for younger readers when it comes to these books though because some teens might not be into that. I sure am and I vote for more in the next book.

My only issue with this book is the character development with Tamlin. I think I could accept this progression, or rather regression, if I didn't already see it before. I think Sarah falls into a writing habit now in which her way of changing a romantic interest is to villainize them. When she writes a new series, I hope that this doesn't happen again. My love for Rhys' characterization outshines this, but this way of changing romantic interest is what made me not love Queen of Shadows as much as I should have.

It took me a little over a week to finish this one. I have a few excuses for that:
A) it was 624 pages
B) it was a heavy hardcover
C) the first 300 pages were kind of slow
It took awhile for the story to really pick up for me. I think the pacing was quite slow in the beginning. Until Feyre joined Rhys as a partner in his court in dragged and then once they were romantically connected it zoomed through.

I loved all of the twists in this novel. The majority of them I didn't see coming. The ending was so great because it had this hopeless defeat, but then when we switched to Rhys' point of view we al had a snarky side grin on. The High Lady of the Night Court has infiltrated the Spring Court: AHHHHHHH!

While I love the Throne of Glass Series, I feel that this series is definitely my favorite of the two. Feyre is a much more dynamic character than Aelin/Celaena. While both have this chosen one type archetypes, Feyre's arc is easier to connect with. I think the transition of human to fae works so much better in A Court of Mist and Fury. The world building, the writing, and the romance is just better in my opinion in this series.

This book is worth all of the hype and more. It is by far my favorite book that Sarah J. Maas has written. Despite that there were a few things I was not a fan of, but this is one of those books that those things don't detract from my squealing excitement.

What did you think of A Court of Mist and Fury? How are we going to handle this year long wait before book 3?